Camaraderie is Sorcery

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 2:16 - Bedridden Discovery

Chapter 2:16 – Bedridden Discovery

Rainbow Dash stalked through the snow, her eyes darting back and forth at the trees around her. In the aftermath of the competition between the Apples and the Flim-Flam Brothers the day before, she’d finally gotten her taste of zap apple cider from this cider season (and more than she really should have, probably). Now, it was back to work. At the moment, she was the only Hunter in or near Ponieville, and most monsters did not rest in the winter. While she’d been preoccupied with her cider, the notices from ponies seeking aid had begun to pile up, even with her filling one or two a day.

This morning, she’d already taken care of a rusalka, a nest of ghouls, a stray windigo, and a boggart that turned out just to be a mischievous colt. Now, she was investigating at the behest of a minor lord with a minor estate outside Ponieville, and minor patience. Something had burrowed its way into his cellar, smashed barrels and crates to bits, then tunneled back out again. The Hunter suspected a molestag, or maybe a young tatzlwurm; both were likely to make their home beneath this nearby wood, coming out now and again to climb or twine around the trees.

Rainbow Dash spotted what she was looking for, a tree tilted to the side, the snow around its base disturbed. Bark was scraped away by something that had climbed the tree with a serpentine body, probably a tatzlwurm. Just in case the creature was lying in wait, she used her sword to clear away the snow and reveal the burrow’s entrance. Grabbing a bomb hanging from her saddlebags, she lit it and tossed it into the hole before jumping back. It was a sparkler, and wouldn’t do any real damage, but the sound it made, the sparks it threw, and the way it shook the dirt would rile up the monster. Hanging her saddlebags on her branch to lighten her load, she stretched her wings and waited for the beast to emerge.

What burst out of the ground, nearly uprooting the tree, was not what she’d expected. It was not a tatzlwurm, but a lindwurm—a frilled lindwurm at that, the most dangerous variety. It flared the leathery mane around its neck as it roared at her and spat poison from its tongue. Rainbow Dash dodged out of the way, and the poison sent steam up where it hit the snow. Sword at the ready, she darted through the air toward the lindwurm, but had to pull up as it reached out for her with the arms that sprouted from the serpent body near its head, long claws tipping them. The lindwurm twisted its body around with incredible grace and snapped at the Hunter, catching the end of her tail in its jaws. Rainbow Dash twisted around and cut her tail short in order to free herself.

She shot up into the air as the lindwurm wound itself around a tree to gain some height. Some of the gear in her saddlebags would’ve been more useful for this, but she could make do with what she had. Looking away, she tossed a stun bomb down at the lindwurm. Hearing it shriek as it was momentarily blinded, she dove toward it, sword ready to slice through its jaw. As she closed in on its head, the lindwurm opened a third eye in its forehead, which it had kept shut up until now, which had not been blinded. How could I have forgotten!?

A flash of light came from the third eye, and Rainbow Dash found herself blinded. No longer able to see her quarry, she struck out blindly while trying to redirect herself, but she was going too fast. One of the lindwurm’s claws struck her hard and sent her careening out of control. Still unable to see, she smashed through a branch, bounced off a tree, and felt a bone in her wing crack in the process. She slid through the snow for quite a distance, smashing her head against a tree trunk at the end. The screams of the lindwurm were cut off as she lost consciousness.

***

When Rainbow Dash awoke, it was in an unfamiliar place. Or, rather, a familiar place where she hadn’t expected to find herself; it only seemed unfamiliar until she adjusted and realized where she was. She was lying in a bed in Golden Oak’s laboratory, on her stomach and staring at one of the many bookshelves the tree’s previous mage had grown into the walls. She tried to roll over onto her back, but was stopped by the splint holding her right wing out away from her body.

“She’s awake!” Rarity exclaimed as Rainbow Dash gave a small groan of pain at rolling against her broken wing.

“Finally,” a gruff voice huffed as she rolled over the other direction so that she was in a position to see who else was in the room, “Now that you’ve seen she’s awake and alert, I trust I can leave?”

All the Brave Companions were in the room with her, as well as the source of the grumpy voice: Stitchwit. The earth pony stallion was a local barber-surgeon, and not Rainbow Dash’s first choice to treat her. She’d come to him with her injuries once before, and though he was competent, he had the bedside manner of a centaur marauder.

“What am I doing here?” the Hunter said as she sat up in bed.

“You broke your wing. Again!” Stitchwit said before anypony else could respond.

“Fluttershy found you and brought you here,” Twilight Sparkle said, and though the sorceress could be a hard pony at times, her words now seemed like satin compared to Stitchwit’s tone, “I did what I could to help with the pain, but you needed surgery.”

“And you all came here to watch Stitchwit fix my wing?” Rainbow Dash asked dubiously.

“Well, no,” Twilight admitted, and she looked on the verge of saying something else.

“We all came to make sure you recovered!” Pinkamena exclaimed, preparing to pounce on and embrace Rainbow, then thinking better of it when she glanced at her broken wing.

“Recovered,” Stitchwit scoffed, “As if. Whatever they do to turn you into Hunters, it’ll speed your recovery, but you’re not recovered yet. You need to stay in bed for another couple days at least to heal.”

“A couple days?” Rainbow complained, “What am I supposed to do in that time?”

“I’m sure I don’t know, and sure I don’t care,” Stitchwit said as he left, “I’ll be back then to see if the splint is ready to come off. Don’t use that wing or you’ll be sorry.”

Rainbow Dash looked around the room, past her friends, and her eyes settled on her bundle of possessions stacked into a chair. Her armor was there, as well as her saddlebags, but there was one item conspicuously absent.

“Where’s my sword?” the Hunter asked.

“Don’t y’ worry ‘bout that,” Applejack said, “We’ll find it for y’.”

“No, I need to find it,” Rainbow Dash said as she tried to get out of bed, then fell back as she unconsciously tried to use her broken wing to help her.

“Don’t worry, darling, like Applejack said, we’ll find it,” Rarity said, “While we do that, you are going to stay here and rest.”

“But what am I supposed to do?” Rainbow asked, “I can’t just lie in bed all day, I’ll go crazy!”

“Well, you might try this,” Twilight Sparkle said before setting a book down on the shelf next to the bed.

“What’s this?” Rainbow Dash asked as she picked up the book.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t imagine anything the sorceress was interested in would also hold her interest, but she’d give her the benefit of the doubt until she knew better. Most of the tomes that Twilight Sparkle kept around here were old, though this one seemed fairly new. Stamped in the green-dyed leather cover was The Tales of Daring Do.

“It is a collection of stories on the journeys of the pegasus knight and adventurer Daring Do,” Twilight said, and the Hunter’s interest grew, “She travels to many places, seeking treasure and fighting monsters. I think you would like it.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash said, opening the book, “When did she live?” Rainbow Dash knew all kinds of stories about legendary Hunters and pegasi, but she’d never heard of this Daring Do before.

“Oh, none of it is real,” Twilight Sparkle said, “They are just stories, written by the Stygran scribe A.K. Yearling and translated into Low Equestrian by Countess Sundown of Adage. The stories can be quite captivating.”

“It’s all pretend? Then what’s the point?” Rainbow Dash said in disappointment as she put the book down, “Fairy stories are for foals, and none of them capture the truth anyway.”

“You should give it a chance; you might be surprised,” Twilight said.

“No way,” Rainbow Dash said, crossing her forelegs, which caused her to wince as she stretched her wing.

“We will let you rest now,” Twilight said as the others began to file out of the room, “We will return later to see how you are doing.”

“With my sword,” Rainbow Dash said.

“With your sword,” Twilight promised.

***

After her friends left, the Hunter tried to occupy herself, but it was a losing battle. She tried to sleep, but quickly gave up when it became obvious she wouldn’t need sleep until well after nightfall. So, instead, she disobeyed Stitchwit’s orders and got up to trot around Ponieville. She should have known that that was a bad idea when she continually found herself staggering from trying to use her broken wing. It seemed she only realized how much she used them on a daily basis when she broke one of them. Training with her practice swords was even worse, and she was forced to surrender and return to Golden Oak’s laboratory to rest. Rest, but not sleep. She looked through the monster-killing contracts she’d taken, putting them in an order to tackle them, but even with as many as there were, it didn’t take much time. She needed something to do or somepony to talk to, but neither were available.

She was absently looking through her Hunter bestiary, having already checked the pages on lindwurms several times, when she finally gave up and set the book aside. If she was already reduced to reading a book she’d practically memorized through necessity, then maybe reading the book Twilight had proffered wouldn’t be that bad. She set The Tales of Daring Do on the stand where her bestiary had been, and turned to the first story: The Quest for the Sapphire Stone. The guest room of the laboratory was closed off except for one window, but Rainbow Dash still listened to make sure nopony was around before beginning to read.

Hearken now to this tale of Daring Do, this tale of daring-do. This Daring, a daring mare who earned the trust and respect of the kings and queens of the Land. She who is most renowned. This tale brings her to the southern jungles in her quest for the Sapphire Stone at the behest of her liege, King Raddolf. Not yet famous, not yet respected, her deed is unknown by the king or her fellow hunters for the Stone. She is alone, but not without hope in victory, despite the pitfalls she’s encountered.

Her quest seemed cursed from the start, first losing her supplies in a storm as her ship smashed against the coast, and now as she was forced to trot through the jungle’s undergrowth. She longed to soar above the treetops and escape the humid heat that surrounded her, but that would not be possible for several days more at least. Her wing was injured in a crash landing, and she would need time to recover. Though her injury would limit her abilities and options, she refused to give up, and pressed on through the jungle.

“Broken wing, huh?” Rainbow Dash wondered aloud, “Is this why Twilight wanted me to read this book?”

Mosquitos, flies, and gnats swarmed in the low places, and Daring Do avoided them, avoided further injury. She had need to pause often to consult the map she’d won in a game of chance just days before King Raddolf issued his proclamation, a map to the hidden temple where the Sapphire Stone was kept. When she did, it gave her a chance to listen for the predators stalking her. Panthers and pumas were out there, seeking to devour a pony who could no longer simply fly to safety.

They came into the open as she came to a gorge, a whole pack surrounding her. Daring Do had not come here unprepared, and she threw a knife through the air, the point piercing the eye of the pack’s leader. In the momentary hesitation that followed from the rest of the great cats, she ran for a fallen tree that spanned the gorge. Daring Do threw herself against the tree, pushing it toward the edge. She spun to strike once with her sword as the panthers charged before giving the tree a final shove and running out onto it as it began to slip. It tipped into the gorge, and she jumped toward the far side. Without wings to aid her, she barely made it, but make it she did. As she pulled herself up, the remaining jungle cats stalked off, disappointed at losing a meal.

“Whoa, real or not, that’s pretty good,” Rainbow Dash admitted to herself, before going back to reading.

***

Daring Do was now at the heart of the temple, past all the traps that had attempted to bar her way. Her sword with slick with serpent’s blood and her hooves ached from the climbing and galloping, but at last she was here. She gazed upon the temple’s center chamber, and a shaft of light slanted through one of the holes in the ceiling to strike the Sapphire Stone. Blue light blazed from the two-headed jackal, blinding her for a moment before slanting away across the floor tiles. Daring Do had beaten all the other seekers here; she would be the one to claim the Sapphire Stone and present it to King Raddolf.

She stepped out toward the pedestal upon which her goal set, and the floor tile gave beneath her hoof …

Rainbow Dash jerked away from the book as she heard somepony enter the laboratory with her keen Hunter’s ears. After she’d emphatically denied wanting to read The Tales of Daring Do, she couldn’t let somepony catch her with the book, especially not Twilight. She couldn’t admit she liked it, not yet. Maybe it was irrational, but she had little time to think about her actions as she hurriedly closed the book and set it aside, smoothing out the pages when they folded back. Her Hunter bestiary had replaced it on the stand by the time the Brave Companions entered the room.

“What happened to you?” Rainbow Dash asked when she saw that they were practically covered in dirty snow.

“Searching for your sword, we had a … run-in with whatever that thing was that knocked you out,” Rarity said.

“A lindwurm?” Rainbow Dash asked, surprised that they weren’t in worse shape.

“If you say so,” Rarity said, disheartened, “What have you been up to while we’ve been away?”

“Oh, just doing some research,” Rainbow Dash said, gesturing to her bestiary before turning it away from the page on breezies, whose entry could be summed up with the words ‘mostly harmless,’ “Monsters, you know.”

“We do know, but you know better,” Twilight Sparkle said as she approached, “Is there anything you can tell us about … lindwurms?”

“Wait, don’t tell me you’re planning on going after that thing!” Rainbow Dash said incredulously.

“It’s got your sword, an’ there’re other Hunters in Ponieville t’ go after it,” Applejack said, “Th’ five o’ us t’gether can ‘andle it. We’ve already survived it once.”

“It isn’t just any lindwurm,” Rainbow Dash protested, “It’s a frilled lindwurm, and a smart one. It can spit poison that’ll corrode steel and use its third eye to blind you. It’s too dangerous.”

“Nevertheless, we still intend to hunt down this lindwurm and retrieve your sword,” Twilight said, “So, the more help you can give us, the better chance we will have.”

“Fine,” Rainbow Dash sighed, “If you can hold it in place so it can’t just tunnel around you, that’d be a start. I have a few traps that’ll do the trick back at my home. Don’t let it get away, because you’ll never find it. Lindwurms can tunnel for a league or more without tiring. Take out its third eye if you can, and cut off its tongue if you get the chance. Also, if you can cut the tendons directly below its arms then they’ll be mostly useless, but it probably won’t give you the opportunity to do so.”

“Everypony, get some rest. We will go after the lindwurm first thing tomorrow morning,” Twilight Sparkle announced to the other Brave Companions before turning back to the Hunter, “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. I will have more questions for you later. I am sure you will be happy to have something to do.”

“Right, of course,” Rainbow Dash said, though she glanced at The Tales of Daring Do, as if it were calling to her.

***

Between Twilight’s questions about lindwurms and being too nervous to attempt to read in secret with Twilight and Spike both in the laboratory with her, Rainbow Dash was unable to continue The Tales of Daring Do that night, but the following day brought her an opportunity. She was almost glad to see her friends leaving, if only it didn’t mean they were going after a dangerous monster. Still, it gave her time alone and undisturbed to read the story of Daring Do. With the stand on the bed in front of her again, she propped up the book and found the page she’d been on the night before.

She stepped out toward the pedestal upon which her goal set, and the floor tile gave beneath her hoof. Darts flew from the walls, and Daring Do rolled backwards, groaning as she lay upon her broken wing. Traps remained still between her and her prize.

Runes written in the tongue of the ancient qirin who’d once lived here were etched into each of the tiles. Daring Do carefully consulted her battered map and followed its instructions to step only on the safe tiles. Each rune represented a creature, real or mythical, the qirin had known, and only those deemed benevolent or harmless would not trigger a trap.

After what seemed an eternity, she reached the pedestal at the room’s center, upon which sat the Sapphire Stone. After taking a moment to admire the relic she’d searched after for so long, Daring Do removed it from the pedestal and stowed it in her saddlebags. As she did so, the pedestal groaned, and traps rumbled within the walls and beneath her hooves.

Daring began to make her way back to the door through which she’d entered the chamber, but sections of the wall toppled and smashed through the tiles completely, engulfing the room in darts and leaving a yawning abyss where the floor had been. At the bottom of the chasm now between her and the door, sickly green fires were lit, and the pedestal upon which she was now standing began to descend toward the flames.

Daring Do searched for an escape, and found one in a nearby pillar that had fallen only partway before catching on the tiles. She jumped to it and grabbed on with her forelegs, heaving herself up. Pressed against a small segment of wall, she scrambled to ascend as the room grew hotter. She reached the ceiling, but the holes that let in light were not large enough for her to fit through. An arrow in her teeth, she loosened the ancient stones around one of the holes until she was able to scramble through.

She slid down the side of the temple, landing hard on the ground, and the Sapphire Stone bounced out of her saddlebags. As she reached for it, a hairy blue hand grabbed it first. Looking up, Daring Do found towering over her a being covered in blue fur, pulled into spikes, a mean grin on its doglike face. A tail that ended in a hand waved behind it while it gripped the Sapphire Stone in one of its forehands. Saliva dribbled down its cheeks as it opened its mouth to speak.

“Rainbow Dash!” a voice reached the Hunter that was very unlike the creature she’d just read described, “Rainbow Dash, where are you?”

Scootaloo burst into the room just as Rainbow Dash finished chucking The Tales of Daring Do, reading stand and all, over the side of the bed. Rainbow Dash had been a hero to Scootaloo even before the young pegasus had arrived in Ponieville. Her mother had told her stories about Rainbow growing up, which the Hunter still needed to get to the bottom of someday. Today, though, she just wished Scootaloo would’ve left her to The Tales of Daring Do.

“Rainbow Dash! There you are!” Scootaloo exclaimed, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, squirt,” Rainbow Dash said affectionately, “What’re you doing here?”

“Apple Bloom said you broke your wing, and I wanted to make sure you were okay! You’ll still be able to fly, won’t you?” Scootaloo’s words all tumbled out.

“Of course. I just need to rest for a little while, and I’ll be good as new.”

“Oh, rest. I see,” Scootaloo said, and it really seemed she’d gotten the hint, “So, since you’re not going anywhere or doing anything and I’m here, you think you can tell me some stories of your daring-do?”

Rainbow Dash sighed as the filly hopped up onto the bed with her, gazing into her eyes expectantly. How was she to know that she’d rather be reading The Tales of Daring Do than telling tales of daring-do? Could I just tell her to leave? No, that won’t do.

“Okay, squirt, what about the time I fought a hydra in a sewer?” Rainbow Dash said.

***

Telling stories to Scootaloo took up most of the rest of the day; the filly just didn’t want to leave until she absolutely had to return home before Sweetie Belle’s parents would be cross with her. Rainbow Dash was able to read more of The Tales of Daring Do after she left, but was unable to finish it before Twilight and Spike returned in the middle of the night. They had her sword, and nopony had died, which was some relief, but she had to lay low until they were asleep. She read more that night, about Daring Do tricking Ahuizotl (the powerful creature who’d appeared outside the temple) and stealing back the Sapphire Stone, but before the fictional pegasus could get out of the jungle and return to her homeland with her prize, she was captured again.

“You thought to steal my relic for yourself, pitiful little pony, and now you shall pay, just as those who displeased me in the past paid,” said Ahuizotl.

Daring Do struggled unsuccessfully against her bonds. She was tied down to a stone table in a chamber of the temple lit by guttering torches. A large stone wheel was positioned at one end of the chamber, balanced on a track that led down to the table. If it weren’t for the ropes stretched tightly in front of it, one push would send it rolling down to crush her. Ahuizotl grabbed a torch with his tail as he sauntered over to the wheel.

“The ancient qirin once made sacrifices to me here; it seems only fitting for you to meet a similar end. It can be a quite excruciating thing to go through. Which will kill you first? The snakes? The star spiders? Both are long deaths. It may be more merciful to simply be crushed to death,” said Ahuizotl.

“You won’t defeat me, Ahuizotl! I’ll come for you and retrieve the Sapphire Stone!” said Daring Do.

“Save your breaths, little pony; you haven’t many left,” said Ahuizotl.

As he left the chamber, he lit a brazier beneath the rope holding the wheel in place. Flames licked at the rope until it snapped, and the wheel rolled down its track. As it did, it tripped a switch that opened holes in the walls, out of which slithered venomous snakes. The wheel was stopped by another rope, but the fire traveled down with it and began to burn this rope as well.

Daring Do continued to struggle against her bonds, which drew the attention of the snakes. She tried to slip under them instead of loosening or breaking them, even though it pushed her closer to the wheel’s track. Flames burned away the second rope, and the wheel rolled down again, opening holes in the walls from which poured hordes of star spiders. Only one rope now kept the wheel from crushing Daring Do.

She was making some progress and was nearly free when the final rope burned through and …

“Rainbow Dash!” Stitchwit said gruffly as he burst into the room, “Wake up! Let’s take a look at that wing.”

Rainbow Dash thought she stopped herself from giving out a yelp in surprise, but she couldn’t be sure. Stitchwit had seen her reading The Tales of Daring Do, but he didn’t care. What mattered was that the Hunter had put the book away by the time Twilight entered the room. Stitchwit examined her wing, huffing and hmphing as he did it. In the end, he removed the splint.

“It seems you actually listened to my instructions for once and rested,” the barber-surgeon said, “You don’t need the splint anymore. You can fly and return home, just only fly slowly for the next day or so. Otherwise it’ll take longer to fully heal.”

“That is great news,” Twilight Sparkle said, “Rainbow Dash, I am sure you will appreciate no longer being cooped up here with nothing to do.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash laughed nervously, looking at the unfinished book at her bedside.

***

Rainbow Dash tried to return to training in preparation for fulfilling the monster contracts left, she really tried. However, as the day wore on, her thoughts were more and more overtaken by questions about how the story she’d been reading would end. Did Daring Do escape the wheel, the snakes, and the spiders? Did she retrieve the Sapphire Stone from Ahuizotl? Did she return with it to King Raddolf? She cursed herself for ever starting to read that book if it was going to consumer her thoughts like this.

More and more, she concluded that she had to know how the story ended. But how could she find out? She could just ask Twilight Sparkle to let her borrow the book, but she wasn’t yet ready to admit to the sorceress that she’d been secretly reading it while bedridden. Maybe she could just ask without admitting it, but that seemed suspicious, and Twilight would probably see through it. The only way, she decided, would be to sneak into Golden Oak’s laboratory that night and finish the story. Just The Quest for the Sapphire Stone, though, not the entirety of The Tales of Daring Do, and then she would never touch the book again.

After night had fallen, Rainbow Dash found herself hiding on the roof of a house near Golden Oak’s laboratory, waiting for the candles to be snuffed out. Twilight tended to work late into the night, and the Hunter grew more and more anxious with every minute. She almost broke down and headed in to ask the sorceress for the book, when the final window went dark. She counted to ten-thousand before hopping down from her vantage point and creeping through the snow.

Carefully, she picked the lock on the door to the laboratory and snuck inside. With no Twilight or Spike in sight, she crept to the room she’d stayed in during the last two days. Everything was right where she’d left it, except for The Tales of Daring Do. She panicked for a second before deducing that Twilight had probably returned it to its spot on the shelves that filled the laboratory. She searched the ones in the room she was in before returning to the main room. There it was, the familiar green tome, and she carefully pulled it down and began to read.

She was making some progress and was nearly free when the final rope burned through and the wheel came crashing down toward her. Daring Do pulled herself free and the wheel rolled past her head, crushing the snakes pursuing her. Star spiders hung all around her, and she wove her way through them to the chamber’s exit. She rushed down a hallway whose walls were covered in murals praising Ahuizotl and out into the jungle air. Down below, she spotted Ahuizotl confidently walking away.

“Ahuizotl,” swore Daring Do.

“Rainbow Dash?” Spike’s voice asked, breaking the Hunter out of the world she’d immersed herself in.

She definitely yelped this time. Rainbow Dash darted for the door without waiting for Spike to confirm it was her, The Tales of Daring Do gripped in her teeth. As soon as she was outside, she took off into the sky. However, she flapped a little too hard and her injured wing gave out, sending her plummeting face-first into the snow.

“What is going on?” Twilight Sparkle asked as she trotted out of the laboratory, thick blankets wrapped around her, “Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here at this time of night?”

“I-I-” Rainbow Dash stammered, unable to come up with an excuse, especially with The Tales of Daring Do lying in the snow next her.

“Oh, I see,” Twilight Sparkle said as she spotted the book.

“Yes, I came to steal The Tales of Daring Do because I started reading it and couldn’t put it down, but my wing healed before I could finish it, and I have to know how it ends!” Rainbow Dash’s confession tumbled out.

“Is that all?” Twilight Sparkle asked, “You know that you could have just asked me to borrow the book, right?”

“I was afraid you’d be all smug and gloating after I rejected it as unworthy of my reading since it wasn’t real,” Rainbow Dash said, and Twilight considered being smug before deciding against it.

“No, Rainbow Dash, I am just glad that you were able to enjoy the tales,” the sorceress said, “I take it that you were not really bored with nothing to do after all?”

“No way,” Rainbow Dash said emphatically, “It is captivating.”

“Well, I am glad we are in agreement,” Twilight said, smiling pleasantly, “Now, you should probably return home … and see how the story ends.”

***

Daring Do bounded toward Ahuizotl and snatched the Sapphire Stone from his hands before he even saw her coming. Growling, Ahuizotl snapped his fingers, and a hole opened in the ground beneath Daring. She began to fall but managed to grab hold of the edge. Beneath her flowed a glowing green river she felt it would not be good to fall into. As Ahuizotl reached for the Sapphire Stone, Daring Do pulled herself up and ducked under him. With a buck, she knocked him through the trap he’d set for her.

‘Curse you! I will know who you are and find you!” cried Ahuizotl as the hole began to close.

Daring Do left with the Sapphire Stone secured and returned home. King Raddolf was shocked to find that she had succeeded where the other seekers had failed, and he bestowed on her all the wealth and honor promised. The name of Daring Do was known throughout the land, but her tale ended not here.

“Now that is something,” Rainbow Dash commented to herself before turning to the next story in the book: The Quest for the Gryphon’s Goblet.